Harry Potter and the Ring of Fear
by GryffindorHermione
Summary: A month after Ron's death Harry and Hermione are still feeling the loss, and though Cho and Harry have started a relationship, Hermione senses something is wrong ...
1. Default Chapter

HARRY POTTER…. announced over all the stands.

            Harry stood up with Cho Chang.  Her hand wrapped tightly around his.  Hermione looked at them disgustedly and rolled her eyes.  Harry had been an Aurora, but after Ron's death he'd become a professional Quiditch player.  Cho was a head honcho at the Ministry of Magic, and Hermione was a teacher at Hogwarts! 

            "Are you not excited Harry?" asked Cho. Over the past year Cho had learned perfect English.

"Yes I am…." Harry said slowly, "I just wish Ron was here to celebrate too!"

"Oh you poor baby." Said Cho in a very loving and sickening voice. Then she hugged him and smiled an evil smile at Hermione.  She said in the same voice, "I know, I know me too!"

A tiny tear ran down Harry's cheek. 

"Harry may I speak to you… privately!" said Hermione quickly.

"Yes, of course!" said Harry, trying to escape Cho's tight grip. Wipping his shirt, Harry walked over to Hermione. They walked into the hall, which was deserted. Then Hermione said softly to Harry, "I miss him too!"

Harry started to cry and so did Hermione. "I've been thinking," said Harry slowly.

 "Yes?" said Hermione, listening carefully.

            "About what happened to Ron, well you know how he died… he was weak and I think that maybe I'm weak too!"

            "No you're not Harry…. your strong! Ron died because of a trap… you and I both know that!" said Hermione sternly.

            "You really think so?"

"Yes, yes I do," said Hermione. "Now, we need to talk about Cho."

            "No! Hermione, not again," Harry immediately protested.

            "Yes, Harry," Hermione insisted.  "I still don't trust her."

            "She's perfectly fine!"

            "No! She's not! She's…"

HARRY POTTER…. It announced again.

"Can we talk about this some other time?" asked Harry.

"Fine," Hermione relelnted in a pouty tone.

Harry leaned over to kiss Hermione on the cheek, and with that he ran into the stadium, where the crowd cried ever so loudly, HARRY, HARRY!

Hermione, still in the hall; looked at Harry with such delight and happiness; and she smiled inside; her heart was warm from the kiss Harry had given to her. Then she touched her cheek where Harry had kissed her, and a tear rolled down her cheek because she knew she would never get a kiss again as long as Cho was around ….she just realized that she loved Harry so much she was willing to die for him!

When Hermione looked back at Cho; she had her arms crossed…. She was talking to a short man, who had a hood and a long black cloak. Hermione wanted to hear their conversation so she took a few steps, then a couple more, then she could hear the man breathing.  He had short breaths and talking very fast.  All Hermione heard was: "Then you mean we can not have the procedure unless we get Hermione Granger out of the picture?" asked the man.

"Yes that is what I'm telling you!" answered Cho with the same smile and look in her eyes as she had had when she hugged Harry.

"It will be done!" said the man.

Cho then nodded her head, and then the man gave Cho Five golden pieces, and then disappeared.  Cho smiled at the pieces and kissed each one of them.  Cho then looked around to see if anyone was looking at her; she saw Hermione! The woman then packed the gold up quickly.  Hermione got to her seat and thought hard about what she had seen and heard.  She knew she must tell Harry this…… but how?

Harry started to walk back up the aisle from the stage. When Harry got back to his seat Cho kissed and hugged him in front of Hermione, who looked away with disgust.  Hermione asked Harry if they could carry on their conversation and so as before they went back into the hall.  Hermione told Harry everything she had seen and heard, but Harry told her it couldn't have been Cho; Hermioine must have misunderstood what was going on.  They carried on with the conversation until Cho came and told them it was time to go.  All three of them left together, going to Harry and Cho's home for dinner.

When the car pulled up Hermione found herself looking at an exact replica of Ron Wesley's home. At dinner Cho asked Hermione: "May I have a word with you in the living room?" 

"Sure," answered Hermione warily.

" Did you hear my conversation with Worm….. never mind his name; did you?" 

"Yes I did. And are you going to kill me for it?" asked Hermione supiciously.

"Well Hermione…..I will not kill you while Harry is around.  Or will I?  But then he'll get suspicious!" Cho said with a frightening tone of voice.

"Why did you bring me in here then?"

"To give you a warning!"

"And what is that warning?" asked Hermione.

"The warning is…. (She whispered it like a snake and Hermione got chills down her back)… BEWARE OF YOU KNOW WHO!  He's with me!" With that she left Hermione there in the living room shocked and stiff.

At dinner everything was fine until Harry said his scar was burning. Cho leaned over and touched his scar,  then kissed it tenderly.  As she did so Harry felt as if he was going to die, and the pain was so great he almost screamed.  Hermione went over to Cho and asked her to leave them alone.  Cho hesitated but then left the room.  As soon as Cho had left the room the pain parted from Harry's forehead, and Hermione came and kissed his scar.

"Harry," said Hermione faintly (holding Harry so only he could hear her.) Ron died in the ring of fear, right?"

"Yes," answered Harry.

"Well, why do you think he died?  Why do you think they set him up?" asked Hermione.

" Because he wanted to kill him!"  Harry said grinding his teeth.

"Who's he?"

"Voldemort; Voldemort tried to kill me… Ron wanted to stop Voldemort, he tried to protect me and so they killed him!" another tear rolled down his cheek.  He closed his eyes tightly and more tears overran his lashes. 

Hermione stood up, wanting to give Harry some time alone, and walked into the living room. Cho looked into her eyes and said: "Time to die, Miss Granger!"

Hermione then looked at Cho and said "Your lying."

Cho raised one eyebrow and then smiled and said "No I'm not!"

A moment passed and then Hermione turned around and rolled her eyes.  She started to walk back to the kitchen when two men jumped on her; one man was Wormtail and the other was Draco Malfoy.  Wormtail had the dagger he had had when he stabbed Harry in the arm, but just as Hermione saw it he rushed at her, attempting to stab her in the chest with it.  Hermione flailed her arms wildly, knocking Wormtail's dagger out of his hand.  It landed at Cho's feet, and the woman sent a disappointed glare at Wormtail.   He scrambled quickly for the dagger, scooping it up in his hand and murmuring an apology to Cho as he stood.  

Hermione vaguely heard Wormtail's apology, but then Draco Malfoy tried to strangle her, his hands wrapping around her throat mercilessly.  She couldn't breathe; she started to choke and gasp for air, feeling her heartbeat in her head.  She tried to call for help but no one answered; her eyes rolled back in her head, and everything faded to white.  Then her head started to clear, and she could see two golden gates.  She was getting closer and closer to them and saw two men dressed in white robes playing trumpets.  She heard the trumpets louder than ever and ever so clearly.  Two other men were pushing her toward the gates; she fought them, trying to get away, but it was useless.  From somewhere far away she could feel herself lying on the floor, helpless and crying, unable to stop the oncoming dagger or the hands still tightly choking her.  Hermione knew then she was going to die!

Cho was on the other side of the room making it look that she too was beaten.

Hermione felt a cold breeze sweep across her chest, and then somone touched her stomach, but she could do nothing.  She didn't know what was going to happen.  And then an incredible pain shocked through her as the metal blade of the dagger stabbed into her stomach.  After that everything went black.

When Hermione thought all hopes were gone she heard Harry's voice; it was like angel speaking to her, and she saw a ray of white light and Harry saying a spell.  Wormtail screamed, making her shudder.  There was the feeling of water where she had been stabbed and she let out a wail at the pain that numbed her body.  She felt Harry's lips on hers and air rushing through her; her chest rose up at the air coming through and then she saw Harry…  he was a blur among a mass of swirling colors.

Hermione slowly began to understand everything happening around her.  She heard Cho in the background, whining and sniffeling and telling Harry what had happened to her.

"Oh Harry!  It was horrible!  They kicked me and then they punched me… they _punched_ me… it was terrible!"

"Oh shut up!" Harry snapped back at her.  "Hermione's been stabbed!  Now help me clean her up!"   

Cho blinked at Harry blankly, but then moved into the kitchen, continuing her sniffeling the whole way.

"Thh-anks," Hemione croaked, having trouble forming the words.

"Shh!" Harry hissed.  "Don't speak too much, but can you tell me who did this?"

Just at that moment Cho came into the room and only heard "who did this?"  Quickly she ran over to Hermione and pushed the wet rag onto the cut.  Hermione screamed at the pressure, a tear running down her cheek.  She squeezed Harry's hand so hard it turned purple and blue, and she started to cough up blood.  Cho put one of the wet rags into Hermione's mouth, effectively silencing Hermione and preventing her from saying that it had indeed been Cho's plan.  

Hermione glared fiercely at the other woman and raised her free hand to point at Cho, but before Harry could see what she was doing Cho grabbed Hermione's hand, gripping it as if to offer support.  

"You'll be okay," the woman whispered sweetly, but there was an evil look in her eye.

Hermione felt tears of frustration and helplessness well up, and she let them fall, too tired to stop them.


	2. Chapter Two Ron's Funeral

***Okay guys, are you ready for the funeral, there maybe some weird things happening! Can you find out what's going on? Or what has happened to Ron! Or maybe how he died!***

  


Hermione woke the next morning to find herself in a room full of Ron's belongings: like Scrabber's cage; Ron's broken wand from his Second year; the Triwizard Cup which Harry had given Ron when he became an Aurora; and Ron's best game of chess board that he got in his Second year. (The rest of his belongings were in boxes.) Hermione looked at the dresser next to her and saw her wand sitting on it. As she was looking around the rest of the room she saw Harry sitting in a chair watching her every move.

 "Feel better Hermione?" Harry asked with care.

"Yeah," Hermione said stretching her arms. "What time is it?" She asked yawing.

"11:00, you slepted very late!" 

"What Happened to Draco?" Hermione asked warily.

"He got away, he apparated!" Harry answered. "And all that time Cho was muttering; like-

"Like she was talking to someone!" Hermione said cutting Harry off.

"Yes, how did you know?" Harry asked looking a little scared.

"I"… Hermione paused; she knew if she told Harry what Cho told her, he wouldn't believe her, just as he did before! Hermione thought to herself … "I caught on quick, that's all!" Hermione answered quickly.

"Ah." Said Harry nodding his head with a smile.

Hermione tried to sit up, but as she did swift pain went through the wound on her stomach; she grunted continuously, until she sat back down.

Harry then came over to Hermione and started to bandage her wound.

"What happened to Wormtail?" asked Hermione softly because of the pain.

"I cast a spell on him… he's going to be your servant for a while." Said Harry with a smile on his face.

Hermione looked up at Harry and smiled.

"Remember Hermione, Ron's Funeral is today…will you be able to go?"

"Of course I will it's Ron's Funeral we're talking about; of course!"  
  "Are you sure you want to go, will you be able?" Harry asked again.

"Yes Harry, _Yes_. I'm sure I want to!" Answered Hermione angrily.

"Okay, okay! I get what you're telling me!" Harry said warily.

"Thank you!" Hermione said pleasantly.

"Do you need someone to help you get dressed? I can get Cho if you need her!"

"NO! Ah no that's okay! I can dress myself!" said Hermione quickly. "What time is the Funeral?" 

" 2:00. So if you need any help just call; and Cho or I will come and help you, alright!"

"Okay." Answered Hermione with an unhappy tone.

Harry then left the room, and shut the door quietly.

Soon after Harry left the room Hermione got up very slowly, pulled the covers off and stepped out of bed. As Hermione was looking in the dresser for something to wear, the door creaked open and Hermione turned around… Cho stood in the door with her arms crossed and a wand in her hand. Hermione, with her full attention on the wand, turned toward Cho shaking her head in confusion, walking backward until she hit the dresser behind her. _"No!" _Hermione said faintly_._

 Cho walked up to Hermione and said: "You may have _screwed_ up my plan to kill you… but you will not be able to stop me now!"

Then Hermione remembered that her wand was behind her she turned quickly and grabbed it; then she held it straight in front of her and aimed it at Cho's heart.

Cho laughed and shook her head and said: "You can barely stand, do you expect me to believe that you can kill me!" Cho began to laugh even harder.

Hermione nostrils flared; her grip on the wand became even tighter. Hermione then nodded her head. 

"Wormtail!" Cho yelled. Soon enough Wormtail was next to Cho bowing and kissing her feet.

 "Now Hermione Granger I have someone to frame! Wormtail won't even know what he did, well what I did!" said Cho laughing to herself.

All Hermione could do was stand there and wait for the pain to go through her body! But before Hermione could even use a block, Cho waved her wand and said:** "**_Crucio**"**_

Hermione fell to the floor her wand still tightly in her hand. Hermione shook back and forth, she started to twitch horribly and curled up in to a tiny ball. Cho kept her wand steady and Hermione started to shudder and jerk more violently!

Suddenly Harry walked into the room. Cho quickly gave Wormtail the wand, acted as if she was trying to get it from him and then pretended as if she was thrown to the other side of him.

Harry ran over to Wormtail ripped the tightly gripped wand from his hands knocking Wormtail to the ground. Cho then started to mutter something, Wormtail suddenly opened his eyes. The spell placed on him had been broken.

Harry waved the wand and said:_ "Reducio"_ Hermione turned back into her normal form. Harry bent down to pick her up but Hermione was determined to get up herself.

"I can get up _myself_!" Hermione said to Cho as she walked over to them.

"All right." Said Cho looking at Hermione, grinding her teeth.

            At 2:00 they walked up the hill next to Harry's house and came across a candy wrapper, which was a Portkey. A crackling noise came from the wrapper then a tiny object came out of the candy wrapper. Suddenly it slowly rose up and became a normal size man. He was very tall and shaggy, his hair ran down to his cheeks and his beard was as long as Hagrid's.

"Hello, may we get to Hogwarts, Arthur?"

"Well of course you may Harry, but why do you need to go Hogwarts?"

"We are going to Ron's funeral at Hogwarts." Harry answered.

"Oh Ron…God rest his soul, I remember when he first came to me for work once, because he was so late, but that was then, so hear ya'll go… Hogwarts it is!"

A cloud of green smoke came and a loud crackling noise… then they soon appeared in the aisle of the funeral home. Hermione gradually walked up the aisle and as she got up to the front of the walkway she knelt down beside the casket and began to cry. 

"If only you could come back Ron, then everything would be fine and we could show Harry that Cho is not to be trusted!" Hermione arose from her position, her eyes shut and tears overriding others. She opened her eyes and let her tears of sadness fall down with no use or will to stop them. Then Hermione noticed out of her watery eyes that Ron had blondish whitish hair. The real Ron had red hair. Then she noticed that Ron's face started to bubble up.

 "Harry, Harry come quickly!" yelled Hermione strongly.

Harry came running "What, what is it?"

"Ron's face and hair it's not his!"

Harry looked at Ron as Hermione was watching Cho. "There is nothing wrong with him Hermione you must have been hallucinating."

"But Harry-

"Look yourself." Said Harry.

Hermione looked into the casket. Harry was right, Ron was in his usual form.

Cho then came up and pushed Hermione out of the way. Hermione tried to see what Cho was doing but too many people got in her way. Hermione saw Cho giving Ron something but she couldn't figure out what it was!

**Will Hermione ever figure out what Cho did or if that is really Ron?**

**Will Harry see through Cho and believe Hermione?**

**Was Hermione really hallucinating? Find out in the next Chapter!!!!!**


End file.
